Friday, February 19, 2010

It's Bloomturd's world (we just live in it)

To the chagrin of area residents the Queensboro Oval, a park beneath the Queensboro Bridge, was quietly turned in to a year-round private tennis club by the city without the knowledge of community residents. More than 100 area residents showed up last night at a Community Board 8 meeting to voice their disapproval, many with their dogs and some in softball uniforms. "We have no say in the matter. It's all about money," said Bradley Cohen, a long-time user of the park. Sutton East Tennis Club, which formerly erected a bubble on top of the park eight months out of the year, will now operate the tennis club year-round with hefty membership fees for the summertime. The city estimates $2.2 million in revenue from the club by 2011, which many residents don't believe is worth it.

Holding signs reading "Save Our Field" and "People Not Profit," opponents lambasted the city for cutting a secret deal with a tennis center that charges fees of as much as $180 an hour - and $800 a week for a kids camp.

"It's a money-making, greedy scam," said Jessica Bondy, 37, a mother of two daughters.

"I was one of two girls in Little League and I learned to play ball on this field," she said.

Community Board 8 chairwoman Jacqueline Ludorf said the Parks Department had vowed to let the baseball players back. But "now they say they can't do that," she said.

"I think it's a done deal," she said. Locals are wondering "how can you take this away from us when we have so little?" she said.

They should revert back the schedule so that the local resident's children can benefit using the fields in season. The money from the venture should be invested in local programs in community centers where the same residents can go to in the cold season to bring their children to play, learn or be entertained.

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